The Private Justice and the Rule of Law research group was pleased to welcome Professor Véronique Fraser (Université de Sherbrooke) for a talk on mixed modes of dispute settlement.

The presentation was moderated by Professor Marie-Claude Rigaud (Université de Montréal).

September 12, 2017: International Dispute Resolution Courts: Retreat or Advance?

The Private Justice and the Rule of Law research team, with the support of the John E.C. Brierley Memorial Lecture Fund established by Yves Fortier, and the L. Yves Fortier Chair welcomed Professor Lucy Reed, Director of the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore.

"...This Special Issue undertakes a broad-ranging study of CETA, viewing it as an indicator of the evolution of EU trade and investment policy, and of the kinds of tensions and innovations that can be expected to arise as a new generation of twenty-first century trade and investment agreements emerges. The Special Issue aims to provide an overview of CETA's key characteristics and of the controversy that has surrounded certain of its key features, placing these provisions within the context of the agreement as a whole and emphasizing a recurring tension between nationalism and internationalism, in particular regarding international arbitration of investment disputes, that runs through the individual papers' analyses of discrete provisions in the agreement..."

Fabien Gélinas edits new collection: Trade Usages and Implied Terms in the Age of Arbitration

If a dispute between commercial parties reaches the stage of arbitration, the cause is usually ambiguous contract terms. The arbitrator often resolves the dispute by applying trade usages, either to interpret the ambiguous terms or to determine what the given contract's terms really are. This recourse to trade usages does not create many problems on the domestic level. However, international arbitrations are far more complex and confusing.

Contains clearly organized chapters providing in-depth information about the treatment of usages in cases and doctrine in different countries

Explores possible conceptual frameworks to help shape the emerging transnational law of trade usage

Outlines what the conceptual grounding of trade usages could be in the transnational law of commercial contracts

Offers a clear overview of interpretive tools for approaching and comparing CISG and UNIDROIT principles as they relate to usages

Provides a comprehensive summary of relevant legislation on international treatment of trade usages for reference and comparison at a glance

Clearly organized chapters providing in-depth information about the treatment of usages in cases and doctrine in different countries

Offers a chapter on cataloging and analyzing all ICC arbitral awards referring to trade usages

Armand de Mestral leads investor state arbitration project at CIGI

On June 9, 2015, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), through its International Law Research Program, has launched a new project aimed at studying an emerging policy issue in the world of contemporary international investment protection law: should a corporation from one developed democracy have the legal right to sue the government of another developed democracy? In other words, is investor state arbitration (ISA) suitable between developed democratic countries?

“There is a growing unease with the established investor state arbitration model as it applies between developed democracies, but there is as yet no consensus on whether a solution exists,” says Armand de Mestral, CIGI senior fellow and lead on CIGI’s investor state arbitration project. “This study will examine the controversy as it is currently manifesting itself in developed democracies, with a view to determining what courses of action might be available to concerned countries.”

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Arbitration and beyond

As a form of private justice supported by the power of the state, arbitration is subject to the control of a court of law. Of its own motion, the court ensures that the matter is arbitrable and that public policy has been respected. At the request of a party, the court is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the agreement between the parties, including issues related to the competence of the arbitrator.

Arbitrability, public policy, arbitration agreements and competence lie at the heart of the dynamic between private justice and public justice, as they determine for the latter what remains an area reserved to the state, free from competition. This area has become the focus of attention because of the increasing recognition of the right of the parties to determine their own law, which can entail the application of rules taken outside the parameters set by recognized legal systems. For example, these rules can refer the arbitrator to religious law or to rules of transnational commercial law.

At McGill, our research team is currently asking the hard questions about the relation between private justice and the rule of law.